Is independent, unsigned, and underground metal what you seek? Weary traveller of the metal world, rest a while here. Clandestine Cuts are the best demos and EPs from these bands, the heart and soul of metal music. These musicians are slaves to their passions, and their blood keeps the metal machine alive and turning. Support them with a simple listen, and discover the future. This issue features music from Neck Of The Woods, Venom Prison, Shrine Of The Serpent, Concatenatus, Criminology & Geist.

It's been so long since the last time I was at Hard Rock Laager. It's, to put it bluntly, quite embarrassing. When I looked it up, it turned out that I have skipped 6 editions. It's surprisingly 2 less than I initially thought, though. The reasons have varied from Hellfests to conflicting schedules, as well as the lack of interest for any particular line-up, and laziness. In those skipped editions I only really regret missing Trail Of Tears and I didn't intend to repeat this mistake with Threshold. And being there again, it felt like a homecoming.

I love the smell of "Napalm In The Morning" … well, not really, but there I was, preparing to write this 'Getting Stoked' article, and the organizers of 70000 Tons Of Metal made their first thrash metal band announcement for next year's cruise - Sodom.

Hi, I'm Troy McClure BitterCOld and you might remember me from such famous behind the MS scenes articles like So You Want To Write A Guest Review For Metal Storm?, About The Metal Storm Awards, About The Metal Storm Awards… Results Edition, and Teenage Lesbian Nurses… In Bondage.

My interest in checking out shows of bands hailing from sub-genres like experimental post-rock, instrumental post-metal (or similar in this vein) has been present more and more over recent years. So, of course, to attend a concert of Mono in our capital city was the right thing to do. The band was touring across Europe in support of their latest double-album release: The Last Dawn and Rays Of Darkness.

The articles in this series begun by our own Baz Anderson are designed to give a brief overview of a band's entire discography, so as to provide a clear point of entry for the uninitiated. It offers a different approach from the typical review format, for the curious newcomer to a well-traveled band.

W.A.S.P.
Heavy metal, glam metal, hard rock, industrial metal
USA

W.A.S.P. emerged from the same place at the same time as many of the hair metal "greats" and populated the same scene for the first few years of their existence, but they always possessed a special something that set them apart - and that would eventually mutate into dramatic changes. After three albums, founder/vocalist/guitarist Blackie Lawless took a sharp left turn into undiscovered country and proved himself a mature, adept songwriter over a series of increasingly-grim releases. Though W.A.S.P. are still defined to many people by those early albums (a fate that befalls so many artists), they have journeyed repeatedly to greater heights and more interesting musical climes - not always successfully, but leaving behind enough inspired work to make them more of a heavy metal institution than a footnote in the records of pop-metal's decrepit heyday.

Che: With the curated day of Roadburn over, it was now time to get back into business with the regular festival organization. Stepping out of Marcel's house in Utrecht to make the journey on this third day, a gloomy sky and icy drizzle greeted us. The weather had been more or less behaving itself for the past two days, but this one created a much more ominous atmosphere, and was definitely the coldest day of the fest. Even so, halfway into things, our crew was now well adjusted to the usual routine, and we arrived at the 013 on this gray Saturday somewhat wet, but ready to keep the ball rolling.

Is independent, unsigned, and underground metal what you seek? Weary traveller of the metal world, rest a while here. Clandestine Cuts are the best demos and EPs from these bands, the heart and soul of metal music. These musicians are slaves to their passions, and their blood keeps the metal machine alive and turning. Support them with a simple listen, and discover the future. This issue features music from Exgenesis, Agos, Triste L'Hiver, The Temple, Graves, & I, Valliance.